Target trap



1924. F. D. WALLING TARGET TRAP Filed Dec. 30,1922

H 0 3 5 3 v 1 3 Q. 1 a I 4 w a 2 3 w n" m 1 1 C Amy 3 a M 6 1 M 5 0 z 2.3 m. 8 3 1 1 Patented 23, 1924.

NITED STATES ATEN FREDERICK D. WALLING, OF EAST ALTON, ILLINOIS,ASSIGN'OR T0 WESTERN CARTRIDGE COMPANY, OF EAST WARE.

ALTON ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELA- TARGET TRAP.

Application filed December 30, 1922. Serial No. 609,918.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, F REDERICK D. VALL- ING, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, and residing at East Alton, county of Madison, Illinois, haveinvented the new and useful Improvement in Target Traps, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to target traps, such as are used for throwingclay targets in shooting contests and the like.

As is well known the traps of this kind are ordinarily provided with a.throw arm, spring operated to throw the target into the air. On sometypes of traps the throw arm is provided with a carrier flexiblyconnected thereto which carries the target. Upon release of the throwarm, the movement thereof operates to deflect the. carrier against thetension of the spring, which spring in turn operates to give the carriera sort of whipping movement at the end of the swing of the throw arm soas to project the target into the air with greater force. The carrier isusually pivoted on the throw arm and the restraining spring operates tohold the carrier in alinement, except during the throw- 7 ing movementwhen the above-mentioned deflection takes place. \Vhen the throw arm isswung backward to set the trap, it engages an abutment or stop in therearward position at the point in its movement where the catch isengaged for holding it in the set position. As the setting movementtakes place rapidly, the arm usually comes against the stop withconsiderable force and the carrier on account of its flexible mountingon the throw arm is set into more or less violent oscillation on thethrow arm. Anappreciable time is required for this oscillation tosubside and the trap cannot be reloaded until such oscillation doessubside without some danger of injury to the operator.

One of the objects of this invention,

' therefore, is to provide a. trap in which the oscillation of thecarrier on the throw arm, due to the resetting movement, may be dampedso that the throw arm maybe quickly brought to rest for reloading thetra Enother object of this invention is to provide such a trap whichshall be simple and cheap to manufacture, and durable in service.

Further objects will appear from the detail description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a target trap embodying thisinvention; and

Figure '2 is an enlarged detail plan view of the end of the throw armand the carrier thereon.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, 1 designates a frame havingat itsrearward end a. standard 2 and at its forward end a post The frame 1 ispivoted at a to a support 5 upon which it is adj-ustably mounted so thatit may be set at different angles, the same beingfixed by means of aclamping bolt 6. The .post 3 supports a shaft 7 which carries at itsupper end a throw arm 8 by means of which the targets maybe thrown intothe air. The shaft 7 has fixed thereto an arm 11 to which is actuator 16pivoted at 17 on the standard 2. I

The actuator 16 is connected with an operating rod or tube 18. Theelement 18 should be stiff rod or tube capable of transmitting a thrustas well as a pull. Tension on the rod 18 operates to move the actuator16.to the left, Figure 1, thereby through the agency of the chain 15rotating the sprocket 14 andthe shaft 7 against the tension of thespring l2 so as to swing the arm 8 rearwardly to set the trap. The arm 8is provided with an extension 19 having a notch 20 adapted to engageasear 21 to hold the arm against the tension of the spring 12 while thetrap is set.

The sear 21 is slidably mounted upon the standard 2 for movement to theright or left, Figure l, and is guided by a pin 22 working in a slot inthe sear. The sear 21 is held in retracted position by a spring 24.

Pivoted at 25 on the actuator 16 is a trigger 26 provided atone end withan abutment 27 adapted to engage the rearward end of the sear 21. Thetrigger 26 is further provided with an abutment 28 adapted to engage astationary abutment 29 on the standard 2 when the actuator 16 is movedto the right.

The arm 8 carries near its free end a pivot pin 31 upon which ispivotally mount ed a carrier 30 in which the target may be placed. Aspring 32 is anchored at one end on a pin 33 on the arm 8 and engages atits other end a pin 34 on the rear end of the carrier 30. The tension ofthe spring 32 operates to draw back the rear end of the carrier so as toposition the carrier in a forwardly extending position. The pivot pin 31carries thereon a coil spring 35, one end of which is anchored to thepin and the other end of which is formed into a hook 36 adapted toengage the pin The spring 35 is held in a stationary position by beinganchored to the pin 31., which is stationary with respect to the arm 8.As will be seen from Figure 2, the carrier 30 can be moved to dottedline position against the tension of the spring 32 and the pin 34 willmove away from the hook 36 of the spring 35 so that movement of thecarrier in this direction is in no way affected by the spring 35. Returnmovement of the carrier, however, under the influence of the spring 32will bring the pin 34 against the hook 36, said pin forming an abutmentto limit the movement of the carrier in that direction.

In the use of this device theoperator pulls the rod 18 to the left,Figure 1, usually by means of a suitable lever arrangement at the firingpoint. This moves the actu ator 16 to the left, pulling the chain 15 soas to rotate the sprocket 1 1 and the shaft 7, thereby swinging the arm8 to the rear until the notch engages the sear 21. The sear will thenhold the arm in. its rearward position when the trap is set. Allattendant then places a target in the carrier 30. When the contestant isready to fire the operator pushes forward or to the right, Figure 1, onthe rod 18, thereby moving the actuator 16 to the right. Upon completionof this movement by the actuator, the abutment 28 of the trigger 26 willstrike the stationary abutment 29, being arrested thereby. As theactuator 16 continues lts forward movement, the trigger 26 is forced topivot about the pin 25, thereby forcing the abutment 27 sharply intoengagement with the rearward end of the sear 21. The impact moves thesear 21 to the right, Figure 1, and releases the arm 8 whereupon saidarm is thrown forward by the action of the spring 12. This movement issudden and as the arm 8 starts to swing, the carrier by its inertia,moves to the dotted position. Figure 2, until near the completion of theswing of the arm 8 when the spring 32 returns the carrier 30 to itsforwardly extending position with a sharp whip-like movement whichdischarges the target into the air.

The trap must now be reset as previously described by moving the rod 18to the left, Figure 1. Upon resetting the trap, the arm 8 strikesagainst the frame 2 which arrests its movement witha jar. In the absenceof the spring 35, this would have a tendency to set the carrier 30 intoviolent oscillation about the pivot 31 and the attendant must wait untilsuch oscillation subsides before reloading the trap. With the presentinvention the spring engaging the pin 34 will quickly damp suchoscillation so as to bring the carrier to rest in a very short time andthe attendant can immediately reload the trap.

It will thus be seen that by providing the spring 35 to engage the pin3% upon the resetting movement, the overtravel of the carrier isrestrained and oscillation thereof is thereby quickly damped.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in details ofconstruction without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is,therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to be limited tothe specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A target trap comprising, a throw arm adapted for swinging movementto set position, means for arresting such move ment in set position, acarrier pivotally mounted and yieldingly alined on said arm so as toprovide for a throwing movement, and a yielding bumper adapted toprevent oscillation of said carrier upon the arrest of said settingmovement.

2. A target trap comprising, a throw arm adapted for swinging movementto set position, means for arresting such movement in set position, acarrier pivotally mounted and yieldingly alined on said arm so as toprovide for a throwing movement, an abutment on said carrier, andyielding means engaging said abutment adapted to restrain the rebound ofsaid carrier upon arrest of said setting movement.

3. In a target trap, a throw arm, a carrier pivotally mounted on saidarm and yieldingly alined thereon so as to provide for a throwingmovement, and a return bumper for said carrier.

41;. In a target trap, a throw arm, a carrier pivotally mounted on saidarm and yieldingly alined thereon so to provide for a throwing movement,and a yielding return bumper for said carrier.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature this 6th day of October, 1922.

rnnnnmcn n. WALLING.

